18 police killed in Somalia academy bombing

MOGADISHU : A suicide bomber from Somalia's Shabaab insurgents killed 18 police officers and wounded 15 others on Thursday when he blew himself up inside the country's main police academy, the force's chief said.

Witnesses said the police were gathered in a square ahead of their early morning parade when the bomber attacked in the capital Mogadishu.

"Eighteen members from the police were killed, and 15 others were wounded, after a suicide bomber blew himself inside the academy," acting police chief General Muktar Hussein Afrah told reporters. The attacker disguised himself in a police uniform to access the camp, Afrah said.

"Some of the police were already in lines, and others were gathering, when the man in police uniform entered and blew himself up," said bystander Hussein Ali, describing the carnage.